The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah

Chapter 17

The captivity of Judah comes because of sin and forsaking the Lord—Hallow the Sabbath day; doing so will save the people; otherwise they will be destroyed.

1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it isagraven upon the table of their heart, and upon the bhorns of your altars;

2 Whilst their children remember their aaltars and their bgroves by the green trees upon the high hills.

3 O my amountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.

4 And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to aserve thine enemies in the bland which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.

6 For he shall be like the aheath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a bsalt land and not inhabited.

7 Blessed is the man that atrusteth in the Lord, and whose bhope the Lord is.

8 For he shall be as a atree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not bsee when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of cdrought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

9 ¶ The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

10 I the Lordasearch the bheart, I try the creins, even to give every man according to his dways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth ariches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

12 ¶ A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that aforsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.

14 aHeal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my bpraise.

15 ¶ Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it acome now.

16 As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.

18 Let them be aconfounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with bdouble destruction.

19 ¶ Thus said the Lord unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;

20 And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

21 Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the asabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;

22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.

23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck astiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.

24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;

25 Then shall there enter into the gates of this city akings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.

26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the Lord.

27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the asabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the bpalaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.